‘Castle’ Season Premiere Recap: Afterglow and Closure

It wasn’t a dream. They didn’t regret it the morning after. They didn’t decide ignore their feelings for the sake of their careers. Thank you, “Castle” writers for not wrecking television’s best sexual-tension based ship. During your hiatus, please travel back in time and fix “The X Files” and “Moonlighting.” Monday night’s season five premiere was sexy, romantic, powerful, and paid off the show’s other series-long arc.

The episode opens, as promised, with the morning after. Castle (Nathan Fillion) is momentarily alarmed when he wakes up alone in bed, but that’s just because Beckett (Stana Katic) went to the kitchen to make coffee. She’s wearing Castle’s shirt and nothing else. Fanboys across America are thrilled.

Their dialogue quickly establishes that the sex was fantastic, they have no regrets, and this was no one night stand. They are about to go for round two. Castle starts unbuttoning the shirt that belongs to him but Beckett is wearing. For a moment it looks like we may see Beckett Boob. If you missed it, take a look below:

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But Martha (Susan Sullivan) and Alexis (Molly Quinn) noisily return home to keep this show TV-14. Castle makes Beckett hide then sneak out, which she understandably does not appreciate, though no one would want to be caught in an intimate moment by both their mother and their child simultaneously.

Meanwhile, the mysterious man that warned Castle that Beckett’s investigation of her mother’s death was putting her in danger is tortured for information about the location of the mysterious file shot by the guy that pushed Beckett off a roof in the season finale. Esposito (Jon Huertas) has an old army buddy track down the guy’s identity. His name is Maddox.

When Castle goes to Casa Beckett to make things right and assure her he isn’t ashamed to be seen with her, they’re interrupted by Ryan (Seamus Dever), who has come to seek their help on the Maddox case. Beckett isn’t going to let no longer being on the NYPD stop her from investigating. They find a bloody, but alive, Smith, who is able to tell them what happened. Joined by Esposito — who is still feuding with Ryan — they find Maddox about to open the safe containing the file. Surprise! The safe is booby trapped. Maddox gets blown up real good. Unfortunately, so does the file.

The four musketeers must have spent a lot of time putting together jigsaw puzzles as children, because they decide to put the file back together. Ryan finds the pieces of a bank statement from the account where the payouts from the mobsters to the conspiracy were deposited. It belongs to New York senator Bracken, a possible future presidential candidate. However you feel about our current presidential candidates, at least they didn’t kill Beckett’s mom. They theorize that he is now targeting Beckett because he wants to get rid of anyone who could derail his campaign. Of course, the only reason she figured out it was him is because he targeted her, so Bracken is not just evil. He is stupid.

Watch the full episode:

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Caskett asks Smith to testify that Bracken is the big bad. He tells them he kept the file because he owed Captain Montgomery, but he doesn’t owe Beckett anything. Bracken is protected, and going after him will only result in all of their deaths. Smith wants to disappear. Beckett says his only bet is to work with her because he knows too much. He says he’s tired and they need to go. Smith’s on orders from police guard leaves, following orders from “dispatch.” When Caskett gets back to his room, Smith is dead of a seeming heart attack.

Beckett watches Bracken on TV and laments that there is nothing she can do now that she knows who killed her mother. She thinks that Bracken’s men are coming for her. Castle offers to take her someplace safe. Awww!!! The rest of the season will be Caskett hiding in Tahiti! Not really. Beckett says she will never be safe.

Becket sneaks out on a sleeping Castle. (They spent a second night together!) He tells Ryan and Esposito that he thinks she is going to kill Bracken. Well, sure. If this were “Breaking Bad.” But this is the show where all of the characters are awesome people that you would want to know in real life. So Beckett goes to where the senator is speaking, As she approaches him, she flashes back to four years on memorable moments in this case including Montgomery’s death and her shooting. Good job, editors! Then she… sneaks a cell phone into Bracken’s pocket. That is not even a misdemeanor. She calls it. When he answers she tells him it’s Kate Beckett and she is watching him and she will destroy his career unless he does what she says. Castle and Ryposito arrive to find Bracken is meeting with a donor, Ryan wants to call Gates. Castle persuades him to hold off until they know exactly what happened.

Bracken tells Beckett that when he was 14 his friend was murdered by his mother. He decided to go into politics to help people. Beckett is aghast that he can justify himself, telling him her mother died alone in a pile of garbage. He calls her a disgraced cop. He wants to be the man everyone thinks he is and he won’t let her stop him. She has no power, even if she has the gun. So she tells him she has the file – Smith had another copy. Then she recites the number of the bank account where he deposited the money orders he received. She won’t release them provided he makes the same deal with her he did with Smith. If anything happens to her or anyone she cares about, that file goes public. He agrees that they’re clear. Then she tells him she has no idea what she is capable of or how far she will go. She is done being afraid. It’s his turn now. Then she hits him in the face with her gun, says it will leave a nasty scar and she wants him to think of her every time she sees it.That may have been even sexier than the morning after scene. Watch and decide for yourself.

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Castle and crew arrive, relieved that Bracken is alive and reasonably well. She says they reached an understanding. Beckett asks Gates for her job back. Gates agrees to rehire her, but she has to serve out her suspension first. She thinks Castle can keep her occupied.